TenPoint Viper – Bowhunting.Net

Practice to be Perfect

Joe Byers — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 00:48:58 +0000

The big 8-point stood behind a wall of brush while I sat motionless among small saplings 20 yards away. I was a stander on a deer drive and the big buck had every sense on high alert. For long seconds I watched the buck through my scope until it attempted to double back and escape the drive. Luckily, for me, it stepped through a tiny opening, and the instant its shoulder appeared I released, downing the nearly 200-pound animal within 100 yards. This was like a grouse shot with a shotgun and my intense practice regimen paid big dividends.

Realistic Practice Makes Perfect

The quality of your target is almost as important as your bow and arrows. I took an inexpensive target on an elk hunt about 10 years ago and quickly learned that my powerful bow shot completely through the target. I began with eight arrows and ended with three when I finally zeroed the scope. My favorite target is Morrell’s Back-to-Back target shown above. It not only holds any arrow I can shoot but reinforces the exact area for shot placement. Most bowhunters are familiar with the behind-the-shoulder shot placement on a deer, but not the tiny kill zone of a wild turkey. A 3-D target is the best for reinforcing shot placement, but the Back-to-Back is much more portable, affordable, and has two animal visuals on the same target.

Aim Small, Miss Small

A “Robin Hood” is great for the ego, especially in front of friends, yet at $20 a pop for arrows, it quickly becomes expensive. During your practice sessions, you want to strive for accuracy, yet not destroy or damage arrows. Even a touch of one carbon shaft to another can cause one or both arrows to be dangerous to shoot. An easy answer to this dilemma is to use a target with multiple aiming points. You can judge the accuracy of your shots by comparing grouping within the dots and not risk damage to arrows. I’ve used the same Morrell field tip target for 15 years and finally upgraded this year.

Practice and Test

Many archers labor over the weight of a broadhead. Should you shoot 100-grain, 125-grain, or 150-grain broadheads? Here’s a test of arrow impact of arrows with three weights of target points from a 400 fps crossbow. As you can see, at the close-to-moderate range, weight affects arrow drop very little. If for example, you chose to practice with 150-grain target points you’d need to zero at 20 yards and then shoot your reticle placements as you would with 100-grain heads.

Portability is Important

I hunt in Idaho as often as I can draw a tag. The steep mountains and rugged country are very different than my Maryland hunting ground. Almost as important as coffee is my High Roller target that works for target points and broadheads. When I first get to camp, I test my scope’s zero after flying across the country. Also, at the end of each day, I choose to take a 20-yard off-hand shot to verify the zero. I’ve done this in the headlights of a vehicle when returning at night and it gives me an extra trigger-pull practice as well as accuracy verification. The High Roller comes in two sizes, with the smaller model ideal for portability.

Daily Practice Regamine

Intermittent practice is better than massed practice. That is, it’s better to shoot 10 arrows a day over 10 days than 100 in one setting. The shot above was at 62.5 yards in my backyard using a Morrell Kinetic target. This arrow was fired from a TenPoint Viper 430 and even at 60 yards the arrow penetrates about 10 inches. Despite the penetration, the arrow pulled out easily thanks to the densely packed material in the Kinetic. Shooting target points into foam targets from 400 fps+ bows can actually melt the foam to the arrow making it very difficult to remove.

Know How Arrows Shoot

Part of the perfect practice is paying attention to detail. This target group is also at 62.5 yards in my back yard and it shows how my #1 and #2 arrows nearly touch at that distance, while #3 shoots slightly to the right and higher. At 20 yards, these three shafts would make a tight group but as distance expands, so does the variance from true aim. Always number your arrows and be alert when one flies from the mark. I always hunt with my practice shafts because I know they fly well and with fresh broadheads are as good as new.

Make Practice Fun

The smile says it all. My young grandson loves to shoot a crossbow and scored a bulls-eye on his very first attempt. Vary your practice routine to accommodate various distances and shooting situations. This young lad took his first deer last year while sitting on the knee of his older brother. Despite his limited hunting experience, he made a perfect shot on a large doe that expired in seconds. As you check your stand in the pre-season, take your High Roller along and launch a few shafts. Perfect practice builds confidence so that when that big buck finally makes a mistake, you will bring the hunt to the perfect ending.

Hunt Where they Strut

Joe Byers — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 21:02:17 +0000

The boss gobbler thundered several times before flying down. We couldn’t see it but anxiously awaited its approach. We had taken all the hunting precautions- rising early, sneaking into a known travel route from the roost, having a gobbler decoy staked out, and my best calls at the ready. However, our best-laid plans fell flat, and the tom and his hens took an off-ramp to a distant meadow. We sneaked, crawled, and slithered to within 100 yards of his strutting area, but he wouldn’t budge.

Western turkey hunting is often a cold affair.

Tackle its Aggression-

I’m hunting in South Dakota where a gobbler decoy is often the best allure. The season had been open for two weeks and most toms had been called to or spooked from their roost. Normally, even buggered gobblers will attack another gobbler, yet the old turkey I was after had survived several seasons and wasn’t interested in mating games.

My TenPoint Viper launched at 430 fps and was topped with a Burris Scope

Geared for Quick Shooting

South Dakota has Rio and Merriam subspecies that exhibit similar behaviors. Once they leave the roost they may travel a mile and roam throughout the day. As a result, sedentary Eastern tactics rarely work. I love hunting from a blind, yet the wind frequently blows (Some would say constantly) and fabric flapping in the wind is a deterrent to usually clueless turkeys. The Burris Oracle X allowed me to instantly aim at unknown distances on turkeys that are frequently on the move.

Sevr Titanium heads offer a solid 2-inch cut.

Go for the Body Shot-

If you have followed my turkey hunting posts in recent weeks you know that I’m a big fan of neck shots. However, on moving turkeys at varying ranges where I must hide in natural surroundings I planned to shoot for the vitals, often aiming just above and forward of the legs. Aside from striking the vitals, a hit in this location prevents the turkey from flying and hobbles it for easy retrieval. The blades of Sevr heads nest into the ferrul so they fly very accurately and aren’t affected by the prairie winds.

By late morning most gobblers have bred nearby hens and become easier to call.

Plan B

Since we knew where the gobbler usually roosted, we returned in mid-afternoon in hopes of ambushing the flock. About an hour before dark, the big tom and three hens showed up at the same spot where I had tried to fan it in the morning. The gobbler strutted and circled for 20 minutes or so before making a beeline for the roost. Again we hoped that the boss tom would fight an intruder, but the big bird would not approach. My best shot was at 50 yards on a moving bird, not an ethical attempt despite my excellent equipment.

Farm turkeys pay little attention to vehicles.

Drive-By of Sorts

On the last morning of my trip to South Dakota, I had one final chance and chose to post at the strutting ground where the big gobbler often displayed his white-tipped feathers. However, I had to sneak past the roost, risking busting the birds from the tree, especially likely if deer were in the area. So, my buddy and I chose to drive by the roost in total darkness just like the rancher did on my occasions. Once half a mile from the roost, I hid the vehicle and sneaked toward the strutting ground.

The large Sevr Broadhead disabled the gobbler for an easy recovery.

The Plan Comes Together

My partner on this hunt was a young camera operator who was learning to film outdoor hunts. He and I selected a location along a steep stream bank where we could hide below ground level until the turkeys moved into the strutting zone. We heard the gobbler sound off from the roost but did not call or make any attempt to intercept it. We believed it would come to the strutting ground and were right.

Plan the Shot Carefully-

Ambushing the gobbler from a sunken stream bed allowed complete concealment.

I knew the camouflaged TenPoint would not alert the approaching turkeys so I lay it in the open where I could quickly raise it, aim, and shoot. When I saw the first hen pass by, I whispered to the cameraman to get ready. In seconds, the big tom came strutting past at 20 yards, spinning, and fully displayed. As I reached for the bow, the tom broke strut and turned away, yet it was too late and the Sevr did its job. When gobblers are hammered by hunting pressure, find a place where they strut and be patient. Like a deer, a turkey in a completely relaxed condition is easier to fool and shoot accurately. Good Luck!